Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
I’d learned that his road name was his childhood nickname, not too far off from Cassius. Since Cash was already really darn cool, he’d convinced the guys that he didn’t need a new name back when he finished prospecting for the club—another thing he’d explained to me. I was impressed by the fact that he managed their auto shop and was in awe of the classic car restorations he’d shown me that his friend Dom had done.
Someone brought up a tray of food around noon, so we hadn’t left his room until dinnertime. When my stomach growled, he’d dragged me out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen, and we’d found a dozen people seated at the tables, digging into three large pans of lasagna and piles of garlic bread. Sharing a meal had given me a chance to get to know several of Cash’s club brothers and their old ladies—a term that my sister had explained was in no way meant to be derogatory, even though it sounded like it to outsiders.
Seeing how these big, strong men catered to their women convinced me that she was right. And made me hope for a day in the future when Cash and I were as in sync as the other couples we’d eaten with.
All that time together yesterday—plus those days in Aspen even though we hadn’t really talked then—was like stringing a bunch of dates back-to-back. It made me feel as though we’d been together for much longer than the week since we’d met. And I was already falling head over heels in love with Cash. Not that I’d said those three little words out loud yet. It was way too soon for that. But I had reached the point when I trusted him enough to ask for what I needed.
Shifting in his embrace so I was looking at him instead of the show we were watching while cuddled up in bed together, I murmured, “I want to see my mom and dad.”
He stroked his thumb across my cheek. “You sure you’re ready for that?”
“I want to make sure my mom is okay. She was completely in love with my dad, and I don’t know how things went down with him when she left Aspen.” I heaved a deep sigh. “And if I’m being completely honest with myself…even though my dad made such terrible mistakes and I’m so, so pissed at him, I still love him. I’m not ready to forgive him. I’m not sure if I ever will be, but I’d like to see him. Especially if my mom kicked him to the curb.” I stopped for a second and swallowed hard, pushing back the tears threatening to spill over. This whole situation was an emotional roller coaster, but I knew I could take these steps with Cash by my side. “Besides, I’m not sure how many opportunities I’m going to have to see my dad without bars between us.”
“I get why you feel like it needs to be now, and I’m willing to arrange it, so long as you understand that the meet would have to happen here,” he reminded me.
“Yeah, I figured.” I stroked my palm up his bare chest. “You’ve made it very clear that I can’t leave until you guys find Bickle, and I have no desire to get caught by someone who wants to kill me.”
“No fucking way will I ever let that bastard get his hands on you,” Cash growled before dipping his head to capture my lips in a deep kiss.
It took me a minute to catch my breath when he finished. “I know you won’t let anything happen to me.”
“Damn straight.” He twisted around to grab his cell off the bedside table. “And that includes your dad pulling any shit that hurts you during your talk. I’m gonna be there to make sure he doesn’t fuck up any more than he already has.”
“Okay.” No way in heck was I going to argue with that order when I wanted him by my side anyway. Seeing my dad for the first time after finding out what he’d hidden from me was going to be hard.
“I like when my sunshine is agreeable.” He gave me another quick kiss, then tapped a few messages out on his phone. “Mac gave his okay for your parents to drop by to see you. Do you want me to set it up with your dad? Or do you want to ask?”
I didn’t want to talk to my dad until we were face-to-face. I needed time to figure out what I wanted to say and to see his expression when he answered my questions. “You, please.”
“Before that,” Cash stopped for a second as he leaned forward and shrugged out of his cut. “Need to make a statement that can’t be missed, sunshine.” He slipped my arms through the holes of his vest, and I felt the weight of the leather as it settled on my shoulders. “What’s that?”